The
Battle of Berestechko was fought between rebellious Zaporozhian Cossack, led by
HetmanHetman was the title of the second highest military commander used in 15th to 18th century Poland, Ukraine and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, known from 1569 to 1795 as the Rzeczpospolita....
Bohdan KhmelnytskyBohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky was a hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate of Ukraine...
, aided by their
Crimean TatarCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
allies, and a
Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
army under King John II Casimir.
Lasting from June 28 to June 30, 1651, it took place in
VolhyniaVolhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Western Bug, to the north of Galicia and Podolia. The area has some of the oldest Slavic settlements in Europe...
. The number of Polish troops is uncertain. Duke Bogusław Radziwiłł (one of Polish commanders) wrote that the Polish army had had 80,000 soldiers. Modern historians [Zbigniew Wójcik, Józef Gierowski,Władysław Czapliński] estimate that the Polish army had 60,000-63,000 soldiers.
The
Battle of Berestechko was fought between rebellious Zaporozhian Cossack, led by
HetmanHetman was the title of the second highest military commander used in 15th to 18th century Poland, Ukraine and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, known from 1569 to 1795 as the Rzeczpospolita....
Bohdan KhmelnytskyBohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky was a hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate of Ukraine...
, aided by their
Crimean TatarCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
allies, and a
Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
army under King John II Casimir.
Lasting from June 28 to June 30, 1651, it took place in
VolhyniaVolhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Western Bug, to the north of Galicia and Podolia. The area has some of the oldest Slavic settlements in Europe...
. The number of Polish troops is uncertain. Duke Bogusław Radziwiłł (one of Polish commanders) wrote that the Polish army had had 80,000 soldiers. Modern historians [Zbigniew Wójcik, Józef Gierowski,Władysław Czapliński] estimate that the Polish army had 60,000-63,000 soldiers. The Cossacks had around 100,000 plus 40,000 Crimean Tatar cavalry and a few thousand
TurksThe Turkish people , also known as the "Turks" are defined mainly as citizens of the Republic of Turkey. An early historic text provided the definition of being a Turk as "any individual within the Republic of Turkey; whatever his/her faith or racial/ethnic background; who speaks Turkish, grows up...
and
VlachsVlachs or Walachians is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe...
. Both sides had about 40,000 cavalry each. Fighting was close, with the core of excellent Cossack infantry making up for the weakness of their cavalry; much of the decisive fighting was by the infantry and dismounted dragoons of each side.
The Polish Army
On June 19, the Polish Army totaled 14,844 Polish cavalry, 2,250 German type cavalry, 11,900 German type infranty and dragoons, 2,950 Hungarian type foot soldiers, 1,550 Lithuanian volunteers, 960 Tatars and 30,000
levée en massePospolite ruszenie , is an anachronistic term describing the mobilisation of armed forces, especially during the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The tradition of wartime mobilisation of part of the population existed from before the 13th century to the 19th century...
.
The Cossack-Tatar Army
Before the battle, the Uprisers army totaled 80,000 Cossacks, 28,000-33,000 Tatars and uncertain number of Ukrainian peasants.
First day of battle
2000 Polish cavalry (one regiment under the command of
Aleksander KoniecpolskiPrince Aleksander Koniecpolski was a Polish nobleman. He became the Grand Standard-Bearer of the Crown in 1641, the Palatine of Sandomierz Voivodeship in 1656, and the Starost of Perejasław, Korsun, Płoskirow and Dolina. He was the son of the famous hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski....
, supported by
Jerzy LubomirskiPrince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski was a Polish noble , magnate, outstanding politician and military commander. Lubomirski was a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire SRI. He was the initiator of the Lubomirski Rokosz....
, six
pancerniTowarzysz pancerny was a medium-cavalryman in 16th-18th century Poland, named for his chainmail armor...
cavalry companies of
Jeremi WiśniowieckiJeremi Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki was a notable member of the aristocracy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Prince at Wiśniowiec, Łubnie and Chorol and a father of future Polish king Michał I...
and winged hussars under the command of
Stefan CzarnieckiStefan Czarniecki or Stefan Łodzia de Czarnca Czarniecki Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth general and nobleman. Field Hetman of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom. He was a military commander, regarded as a Polish national hero...
) repulsed the Tatars, who suffered heavy losses.
During the first day of the battle, the Poles were victorious.
Second day of battle
The Poles, encouraged by their victory in the first day, deployed all available cavalry. Polish infantry and artillery stayed in the camp and didn't support the cavalry. But, this time, the tide turned. The Tatar cavalry won against its Polish counterpart. The Tatars came near to the Polish camp but were repulsed by heavy fire from the Polish infantry.
The Poles lost 300 soldiers, including many officers.
During the second day of the battle, the rebels were victorious.
Third day of battle
At 3 p.m. Duke
Jeremi WiśniowieckiJeremi Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki was a notable member of the aristocracy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Prince at Wiśniowiec, Łubnie and Chorol and a father of future Polish king Michał I...
led a successful charge of 18 cavalry companies against the right wing of the Cossack-Tatar Army.
The Polish centre, under the command of John Casimir, moved forward. The Tatars tried to attack it, but were repulsed. During the fight, a Polish nobleman called Otwinowski noticed a banner of the Tatar Khan. Polish artillery started to fire in that direction. A Tatar standing next to the Khan fell dead. Panicked, the Khan escaped and the Tatars retreated, kidnapping Khmelnytsky. Only the Cossack wagons remained at the field of battle.
The siege of the Cossack wagons
Polish forces laid siege to the Cossack wagons. Initially, the wagons were commanded by colonel Filon Dzhalalii but after some days, he was replaced by Ivan Bohun. On July 10, the Cossacks got into a panic, believing that their commanders had escaped. The Polish forces attacked the panicked Cossacks and the battle turned into a slaughter. There were 30,000 dead in the camp, including some women and children.
Results of the battle
As a result, Khmelnytsky was forced to sign the
Treaty of Bila TserkvaThe Treaty of Bila Tserkva was a peace treaty between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ukrainian Cossacks in the aftermath of the Battle of Berestechko. It was signed by Mikołaj Potocki and Bohdan Khmelnytsky at Bila Tserkva on September 28, 1651....
with the Poles. As the battle ended, King Kazimierz committed an error by not pursuing the fleeing and disoriented Cossacks. Later, Khmelnytsky, who was released by the Khan, and the Zaporozhians would continue the revolt.
Polish noble families
Members of
nobleSzlachta is the noble class in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the increasingly polonized territories under their control . The nobility arose in the late Middle Ages and existed through the 18th century and into the 20th century...
families had the personal obligation to take part in the battle with men from their towns and villages. The officers and their supplied men for this battle were:
- Czarniecki, Stefan
- Dołęga-Ossowski, Piotr
- Grzymała-Kazanowski, Adam
- Janina-Rzeczycki, Mikołaj
- Kalinowa-Kalinowski, Marcin Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second highest military commander used in 15th to 18th century Poland, Ukraine and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, known from 1569 to 1795 as the Rzeczpospolita....
- Leliwa-Czapski, Franciszek
- Rawicz-Przyjemski, Zygmunt
Quotations
"Naszego wojska było doboru effective ośmdziesiąt tysięcy."
"There were in total 80 000 (of) our troops"
Duke Bogusław Radziwiłł, "Autobiography"